Research Methods

Hearts, Minds & Feet

Mazar e Sharif: slip on, slip off
The moment after the interview – when yours truly, the fixer, the connector and the participant – a hawala agent in the local money bazaar …



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02 Oct 2010

The Ideas Economy

19 Sep 2010



The slides from my The Economist: Ideas Economy talk, and the text below. The title of my talk “no photos”. Today I’d like to share something that …
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Work Shopped

18 Sep 2010

In: New York
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A full workshop day in NYC – a lot of time spent thinking through the activities that help us culturally calibrate in a short space …
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Illegal Crossing

18 Sep 2010



This photo is illegal, apparently. One of those ‘you can’t take a photo here’ situations that over the years has dulled my enjoyment of working …
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Monty

08 Sep 2010

In: Shanghai
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In a land of imploding bank, and a distinct lack of ATMs that support withdrawals on an international card the man with cold hard cash …
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In Field Connectivity

08 Sep 2010

In: Mazar e Sharif
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It still surprises me that teams let this one slip: if you’re running a field study – remove a simple barrier to communication by buying …
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The Consequences of Ad-hocs

31 Aug 2010

In: Mazar e Sharif
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Darting around Mazar e Sharif on the back of a trial-bike doing ad-hoc interviews with manual labourers. There are consequences to asking questions and taking …
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Street Dynamics

28 Aug 2010



One method we’ve experimented with here in Afghanistan is a varient of the ad-hoc, group street interview – an example above showing Panthea (interviewer) and …
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Mazar Snapshot I

24 Aug 2010

In: Mazar e Sharif
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During out wake-up-with-the-city session this morning, ad-hoc interviewing grain merchants, and under the watchful eyes. Talk one of our local fixers through Hitchcock’s The Birds.
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Field Notes: Researching During Ramadan

24 Aug 2010

In: Mazar e Sharif
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How does Ramadan – the Islamic month of fasting during which time the devout avoid eating and drinking between dawn and dusk, impact on your …
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